Theatre Arts students stage iconic rock musical ‘Hair’

McDaniel College presented the iconic rock musical “Hair” performed by Theatre Arts students. With book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, and music by Galt MacDermot, “Hair” follows a group of hippies living in New York City who celebrate peace and love — and their long hair — in the shadow of the Vietnam War. Set in an East Village park in 1967, the musical explores the issues of race, war, protest and peace.

This “American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” is known for such classic hits as “Aquarius” and “Good Morning Starshine,” among others. “Hair” was the 2009 Tony Award winner for “Best Revival of a Musical” and the original Broadway cast recording won the 1969 Grammy Award for “Best Score From an Original Cast Show Album.”

“Hair: The Musical” is directed by McDaniel Theatre Arts chair Elizabeth van den Berg with Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s Alison E. Shafer as musical director and Julie Herber as choreographer. Berger, the magnetic head of a hippie “tribe,” is played by junior Bryan Bowen of North Beach, Md. Brandon Richards, a junior from Huntingtown, Md., is Berger’s friend, Claude, a nice guy from Queens who is about to be drafted, and Alex Tolle, a junior from Woodstock, Md., plays Sheila, Berger’s war protester girlfriend.

The cast also includes seniors Najee Banks of Baltimore, Antoinette Martin of Cape Coral, Fla., Jennifer Shillingburg of Oakland, Md., and Brandi Weyers of Northfield, Mass., and juniors Torreke Evans of Atlanta, Joseph Fox of Hurlock, Md., Stephanie Golub of Walkersville, Md., Amanda Quarantillo of Montgomery Village, Md., and Megan Smith of Federalsburg, Md.

Others in the cast are sophomores Emma Bartels-Jones of Cockeysville, Md., Cole Owens of Damascus, Md., and Jennifer Willard of North Potomac, Md., as well as freshmen Zuri Haley-Robbins of Decatur, Ga., Veronica Johns of Parkville, Md., Anna Rozier of Westport, Conn., and Patsy Zetkulic of Arlington, Va.